Means for mounting an electric heating element



Feb. 9, 1960 G. E. AMMERMAN ET AL 2,924,696

MEANS FOR MOUNTING AN ELECTRIC HEATING ELEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. 13, 1955 a [DWARD ANN sumo H. KRESKE z ATTORNEY Feb. 9, 1960 G. E. AMMERMAN ETAL 2,924,696

MEANS FOR MOUNTING AN ELECTRIC HEATING ELEMENT Original Filed Dec. 13, 19 55 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. (3 EDWARD AMMCRMAN GERALD ll IRES/(E A T roRn/cr United States Patent Kreske, Warren, Ohio, assignors to Edwin L. Wiegand Company Continuation of application Serial No. 552,840, December 13, 1955. This application July 17, 1958,'Serial No. 750,067

20 Claims. (Cl. 219-37) The present invention relates to means for mounting an electric heating element, more specifically to mounting a sheathed electric heating element particularly adapted for use in ovens and the like, and the principal object of the invention is to provide new and improved means of the character described. This application is a; continuation of our previous application, Serial Number 552,840, filed December 13, 1955.

The use of sheathed electric heating elements in the ovens of ranges has resulted in the commercial use of various constructions wherein the element is mounted within the oven for pivotal movement to facilitate cleaning the interior of the oven, the constructions further providing for replacement of the element from the inside of the oven by working through the oven door opening. Certain of these constructions have achieved wide usage; however, none has been entirely satisfactory since most are relatively expensive to manufacture and/ or relatively troublesome to install and remove.

The present invention provides a construction which is far lower in cost than those heretofore used and which is cheaper to install during initial assembly of the range and easier to replace in the field. Other advantages of the invention will readily become apparent from a study of the following description and from the drawings appended hereto.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application, there are shown, for purpose of illustration, embodiments which the invention may assume, and in these drawings:

Figure l'is a perspective View illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view generally corresponding to the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, but illustrating the parts positioned to facilitate cleaning,

Figure 4 is a sectional view generally corresponding to the line 44 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 through 4,

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment, and

Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of yet another embodiment.

As shown in Figure 1, the present invention comprises a pair of electric resistance heating elements 10 and 11 adapted to be secured to respective spaced side walls 12 and 13 which partially define an oven 14. In the present embodiment, the oven is of the type used in domestic ranges and is further formed by a bottom wall 15, a top wall 16 and a rear wall 17. The front of the oven, although herein shown open, is adapted to be closed by the usual door (not shown). It is to be understood that the oven herein shown is merely an inner shell and that usually :the'oven also has an outer shell, the space be tween the shells being filled with a suitable insulating material.

P CC

The heating elements herein employed are of the wellknown sheathed embedded type having an intermediate heat generating portion 18 and end portions 19 which provide suitable terminals 20 to which the usual current carrying wires (not shown) are connectable. By means later to be disclosed, elements 10 and 11 are pivotally supported by respective side walls 12 and 13 so that their heat generating portions are disposed within the oven chamber, whereas their end portions 19 project through respective walls to position terminal portions 20 outside the oven chamber to protect the terminals and the attached wires from excessive heat.

In prior art constructions, a single sheathed heating element was attached to the rear wall of the oven and 'this element had spaced legs, each adjoining a respective side wall, the legs being connected together by a transverse leg disposed adjacent the oven door opening. This transverse leg served no useful purpose other than providing for continuity of the element.

It is an important feature of the present invention that 'by using two elements, one supported by each side wall of the oven, the transverse element portion can be eliminated to thereby reduce element cost since the total length of the present two elements is considerably less than the length of the single element heretofore employed. This is particularly true since each element projects from its side wall an amount less than one half the width of the oven. Since the elements project a relatively short distance from their supporting walls, it is unnecessary to support the free outer extremity of the element. This is an additional cost-saving factor. The practicality of using two separate elements is further enhanced by the about-to-be-described, low cost mounting means for the elements. It is to be understood, however, that the hereinafter described mounting means may be applied to oven elements constructed in the usual manner, as above described, with great savings in cost.

Since the elements 10, 11 are identical, only element 10 and its associated parts will be described in detail, it being understood that the following description applies equally to element 11 (with the exception, of course, that element 11 is carried by side wall 13 instead of by side wall 12).

As previously mentioned, element 10 comprises an intermediate heat generating portion 18 and end portions 19 and, in the present embodiment, the element is formed to U shape with the end portion 19 forming the legs of the U (see Figure 1). Each end portion 19 is adapted to be secured to the side wall in a similar manner; accordingly, only one leg 19 and its associated parts is shown in detail and described with particularity.

Referring to Figure 5, a clip 21 is carried by each portion 19 for securing the element to side wall 12. Clip 21 is preferably formed of spring material and comprises a body portion 22 and a leg portion 23. Body portion 22 is slit at 24 and 25 to provide a pair of opposed legs 26, 27 whose adjoining ends are of V formation to closely engage end portion 19 of the heating element. It will be noted that the adjoining ends of legs 26, 27 of the clip are spaced apart an amount less than the transverse size of element portion 19 to provide an aperture 28 for a purpose to be disclosed. If desired, body portion 22 may be embossed to provide strengthening ribs 122.

Leg portion 23 extends transversely of body portion 22 in radially off-set relation from aperture 28 and the leg portion is of less width than the body portion to provide shoulders 29 whose purpose will later become clear. Leg 23 is preferably divided into three prongs in side by side relation and comprises outer prongs 30 and an intermediate prong 31. Leg 23 has a transverse en largement which is in part provided by the outer prongs and in part provided by the intermediate Prong.

In the present embodiment and in the position of parts shown in Figures 2 and 5, and intermediate portion of prong 31 is bent up out of the plane of leg 23 to provide an abutment 32 and intermediate portions of prongs 30 are bent down to provide abutments 33. For a purpose to become clear, abutments 32, 33 are spaced from body portion 22 an amount somewhat greater than the thickness of oven 'wall 12.

- Clip 21 is adapted to be assembled with element by forcing end portion 19 of the element through aperture 28 of the clip. This action will force legs 26, 27 apart ,(see Figure 2) sufiiciently to pass element portion 19. Since the clip is formed of spring material, legs 26, 27 will bite into the sheath of the element and maintain the clip in predetermined position on the element. It is contemplated that the clip will be so proportioned that the amount of force required to effect movement of the clip along the element will be great enough to insure that normal usage will not disturb the relationship of the clip and the element.

Referring particularly to Figure 5, it will be noted that wall 12 of the oven has an aperture 34 for passing element end 19 and an aperture 35 for passing leg portion 23 of the clip. Aperture 34 is enlarged vertically to clear legs 26, 27 of the clip so that body portion 22 can. lie fiat against the oven wall and also to permit tilting of element portion 19 (see Figure 3). Aperture 35 is a slot whose length is suflicient to pass leg portion 23 of the clip but not suflicient to pass the wider body portion 22. The width of slot 35 is suificient to freely pass the portion of leg 23 adjacent the body portion but not sufficient' to freely pass the transverse enlargement of the leg portion (see Figure 2).

The element is adapted to be secured to the oven wall by working entirely through the normal door opening. This is accomplished by first pulling the wire lead (not shown, but which lies outside wall 12) through aperture 34, connecting the wire to terminal 20 of the element, passing the'end of element portion 19 through aperture 34, and forcing leg 23 of the clip through aperture 35 until body portion 22 of the clip lies fiush againstthe wall. Since prongs 30, 31 are resilient, they will spring sufficiently to permit abutments 32, 33 to pass through the narrow slot; however, they will im mediately return to the position shown in Figure 2 and yieldably hold the element assembled with the -wall. Obviously, removal of the element from the oven merely requires that the clipbe pried away from the oven Wall against the resiliency of prongs 30, 31 until leg 23 is withdrawn from aperture 35, the element moved away from the wall until terminal 20 is accessible, and the wire lead then disconnected.

Normally, the element is in the position illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 wherein it extends substantially perpendicular to wall 12. However, since oven elements are usually positioned close to bottom wall of the oven to achieve maximum efficiency, the element would interfere with cleaning of the oven bottom. To facilitate cleaning, it is only necessary to tilt the element to the position shown in Figure 3 whereupon bottom 15 is readily accessible. Note that since slot 35 in the oven wall is shorter than the width of the body portion 22 of the clip (see Figure 4) shoulders 29 will engage the oven wall to prevent entry of the body portion into the slot. Releasing the element will permit it to return to its normal position.

It will be understood that unintentional movement of the clip relative to the element in a direction opposite to that employed at assembly is a virtual impossibility aslong as the clip remains intact. However, if sufficient pressure is employed, it is possible to force the clip further onto the element. To eliminate this possibility, the embodiment'shown in Figure 6 may be employed.

The embodiment shown in Figure 6 is similar to the embodiment heretofore disclosed; accordingly, similar parts are identified with similar reference characters but with the suffix 01 added. In this embodiment, a disc 36 is positioned upon element portion 19a prior to positioning clip.21a: on the element portion. Disc 36 is similar to clip 21a in that it is made of spring material and has legs 37, 38 similar to legs 26a, 27a of the clip. However, the disc is assembled with the element portion in a diffen ent manner.

To assemble the disc with the element, pressure will be exerted upon the disc at A-A to bow it about axis XX. This will spread legs 37, 38 apart and permit the disc to be moved in the direction indicated and positioned as desired upon the element. When the pressure at A-A is released, the disc will straighten out and legs 37, 38 will bite into the element to positively lock the disc against further movement in this direction. Clip 21a will then be moved in the direction indicated and slid onto the element in the same manner as was clip 21 until the clip abuts disc 36. Clearly, disc 36 will prevent further movement of the clip in the direction of the arrow and the legs 26a, 27a of the clip will prevent its movement in the opposite direction. Accordingly, theclip will remain permanently positioned upon the element portion.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 7 wherein similar parts are identified by similar reference characters but with the sufiix lb added, clip 21b has a body portion 2211 having legs 26b, 27b. Extending transversely of the body portion and from opposite sides thereof, as shown, are a pair of prongs 39 and 40. The intermediate portions of the prongs are formed to provide outwardly extending respective abutments 41, 42. As illustrated, abutments 41, 42 are spaced from body portion 22b an amount sufiicient to receive oven Wall 1212 therebetween. As will be understood, clip- 2lb will be assembled with element portion 19b in the same manner as before described with respect to clip 21.

Oven wall 12b has an aperture 43 which is similar to aperture 34 in that it passes the element. 1 This oven wall, however, has opposed notches 44, 45 adjacent aperture 43 for passing prongs 39, 40 of the clip. It will be understood that distance Z, across notches 44, 45, is substantially equal to the span across the portions of the prongs 39, 40 adjacent the body portion of the clip. In the position of parts shown, the vertical width of notches 44, 45 is somewhat greater than the vertical width of prongs 39, 40 to provide sufficient clearance for tilting the element.

To assemble the element with the oven wall, it is only necessary to pass element portion 19b through aperture 43 and prongs 39, 40 through respective notches 44, 45 and to apply sufiicient pressure to spring the prongs toward each other to permit abutments 41, 42 to pass through the notches. After abutments 41, 42 pass through the notches, prongs 39, 40 will spring out to engage the abutments behind the oven wall to thereupon yieldably maintain the element assembled with the wall. As before mentioned, the width of the notches is sufiiciently greater than the width of the prongs to provide adequate clearance for tilting the elements for cleaning purposes.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that we have accomplished at least the principal object of our invention and it Will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments herein described may be variously changed and modified, .with out departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described, hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiments are illustrative only, and that our invention is not limited thereto.

We claim:

1. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured support, comprising a clip having a body portion connectable to a portion of the heating element and a projecting leg portion adapted to pass through the aperture in the support, said leg portion being sufficiently smaller than the aperture in the support to provide for tilting of said leg portion relative to the support, said clip providing abutments spaced apart for engagement with opposite sides of the support adjacent its aperture for limiting axial movement of said element relative to the support.

2. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured support, comprising a clip having a body portion connectable to a portion of the heating element and a projecting leg portion adapted to pass through the aperture in the support, a portion of said leg portion being sufficiently smaller than the aperture in the support to provide for tilting of said leg portion relative to the support, and interengageable means in part provided by said clip restricting axial movement of said leg portion relative to the support.

3. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured support, comprising a clip having a' body portion connectable to a portion of the heating element and a projecting leg portion spaced radially of the element portions axis and extending longitudinally thereof, said leg portion being adapted to pass through the aperture in the support and a portion of the leg portion being suificiently smaller than such aperture to provide for tilting of said leg portion relative to the support, and interengageable means in part provided by said clip restricting axial movement of said leg portion relative to the support.

4. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured support, comprising a clip having a body portion connectable to a portion of the heating element and a projecting leg portion spaced radially of the element portions axis and extending longitudinally thereof, said leg portion being adapted to pass through the aperture in the support and a portion of the leg portion being sufficiently smaller than such aperture to provide for tilting of said leg portion relative to the support, and resilient interengageable means in part provided by said clip yieldably restricting axial movement of said leg portion relative to the support.

5. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured support, comprising a clip having a body portion connectable to a portion of the heating element and a projecting leg portion spaced radially of the element portions axis and extending longitudinally thereof, said leg portion being adapted to pass through the aperture in the support and a portion of said leg portion adjacent said body portion being sufficiently smaller than such aperture to provide for tilting of said leg portion relative to the support, and a resilient enlargement carried by and extending transversely of said leg portion and in spaced relation with said body portion and sufficiently larger than the aperture in the support to yieldably restrict axial movement of said leg portion relative tothe support.

6. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured support, comprising a clip having a body portion apertured to pass a portion of the heating element and having resilient teeth for tightly gripping the sheath of the element portion to connect the element and said clip together, said clip having a projecting leg portion spaced radially of the element portions axis and extending longitudinally thereof and adapted to pass through the aperture in the support, a portion of said leg portion adjacent said body portion being sufficiently smaller than such aperture to provide for tilting of said leg portion relative to said support, and a resilient enlargement carried by and extending transversely of said leg portion and in spaced relation with said body portion and sufiiciently larger than the aperture in the support to yieldably restrict axial movement of said leg portion relative to the support.

7. An electric heater adapted to be secured to an apertured wall, comprising a sheathed electric heating element having a portion adapted to pass through one aperture in the wall and being sufliciently smaller than the one aperture to provide for tilting of said element, and means carried by said element providing a leg spaced radially of said element portion and extending longitudinally thereof, said leg being adapted to pass through another aperture in the wall and being sufiiciently smaller than the other aperture to provide for tilting of the leg, said leg having a transversely extending resilient enlargement sufficiently larger than the aperture through which said leg passes to yieldably restrict axial movement of said leg relative to the wall.

8. An electric heater adapted to be secured to an apertured wall, comprising a sheathed electric heating element having a portion adapted to pass through one aperture in the wall and being sufiiciently smaller than the one aperture to provide for tilting of said element, shoulder means extending radially of said element providing an abutment engageable with one side of the wall, a leg carried 'by said shoulder means extending longitudinally of said element and spaced radially therefrom, said leg being adapted to pass through another aperture in the wall and the portion of said leg adjacent said shoulder means being sufliciently smaller than the other aperture to provide for tilting of said leg, and a resilient enlargement carried by and extending transversely of said leg and in spaced relation with said shoulder means, said enlargement being sufiiciently larger than the aperture through which said leg passes to yieldably restrict axial movement of said leg relative to the wall.

9. In combination, a supporting Wall having a pair of apertures formed therein, a sheathed electric heating element having a terminal portion extending through one of the apertures in said wall and said terminal portion being sufficiently smaller than said one aperture to provide for tilting of said element, shoulder means extending radially of said terminal portion providing an abutment larger than said one aperture and engageable with one side of said wall to limit axial movement of said terminal portion in one direction, and a pair of resilient prongs in side by side relation extending from said shoulder means to provide a leg extending longitudinally of said terminal portion and spaced radially of the latter, said leg extending through the other aperture in said wall and the portion of said leg adjacent said shoulder means being sufliciently smaller than said other aperture to provide for tilting of said leg, said leg having an enlargement spaced from said shoulder means and extending transversely on opposite sides of said leg, the enlargement portion on one side of said leg being provided by one of said prongs and the enlargement portion on the other side of said leg being provided by the other prong, said enlargement being sufficiently larger than the aperture through which said leg extends to yieldably restrict axial movement of said leg relative to said wall.

10. An electric heater securable to a wall having a pair of spaced apertures, comprising an elongated sheated electric heating element having a heat generating portion and a terminal connector portion and adapted to extend through one of the wall apertures to dispose said heat generating portion on one side of said wall and said terminal connector portion on the other side of said wall, clip means securable to said element in spaced relation to said terminal connector portion and having a body portion apertured to pass said element and having a spring finger resiliently engaged with said element for securing the latter and said clip means together, said clip means having a leg portion spaced radially of said element and extending longitudinally thereof in a direction toward said terminal connector portion for extension through said other wall aperture from said one wall side and said leg portion cooperating with a defining marginal portion of said other wall aperture to provide a pivot about whichv said element is shiftable, and abutment means in part provided by said leg portion and in part provided by a defining marginal portion of said other wall aperture and interengaging to restrict withdrawal of said clip means leg portion from said other wall aperture and consequent disassembly of said element from said wall.

11. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured wall, comprising a sheet metal clip formed of body means and projecting leg means, said body means having an aperture for receiving the heating element and a spring finger resiliently engageable with said element for securing the latter and said clip together, and said body means being adapted to be disposed adjacent one side of said wall with said leg means extending through the wall aperture, and abutment means carried by said leg means and resiliently engageable with the other side of said wall to yieldably resist withdrawal of said leg means from said wall aperture.

12. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured wall, comprising a sheet metal clip formed of body means and projecting leg means, said body means having an aperture for receiving the heating element and a spring finger resiliently engageable with said element for securing the latter and said clip together and said body means being adapted to be disposed adjacent one side of said wall with said leg means extending through the wall aperture, first abutment means provided by said clip means andengageable with said one wall side to prevent entry of said body means into said wall aperture, and second abutment means carried by said leg means and resiliently engageable with the other side of said wall to yieldably resist withdrawal of said' leg means from said Wall aperture.

13. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating eiement to an apertured wall, comprising a sheet metal clip formed of generally fiat body means and marginally disposed projecting leg means, said body means havingan aperture for receiving the heating element and a spring finger resiliently engageable with said element for securing the latter and said clip together, and said body means being adapted to be disposed flatwise adjacent oneside of the wall with said leg means extending through the wall aperture, and abutment means carried by said leg means and resiliently engageable with the other side of said Wall to yieldably resist Withdrawal of said leg means from said wall aperture.

14. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured wall, comprising a sheet metal clip formed of body means and projecting leg means, said body means having an aperture for receiving the heating element and a spring finger resiliently engageable with said element for securing the latter and said clip together, said body means being adapted to be disposed adjacent one side of said wall with said leg means extending through the wall aperture and in part providing a pivot about which said clip and the attached element is swingable to tilt said element relative to said wall, and abutment means carried by said leg means and resiliently engageable with the other side of said Wall to yieldably resist Withdrawal of said leg means from said wall aperture.

15. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured wall, comprising a sheet metal clip formed of generally flat body means and marginally disposed projecting leg means, said body means having an aperture for receiving the heating element and a spring finger resiliently engaged with said element forsecuring the latter and said clip together, said body means being adapted to be disposed fiatwise adjacent one side of said' wall'with said leg means extending through the wall aperture and in part providing a pivot about which said clip and the attached element is swingable to tilt said element relative to said wall, and abutment means carried by said leg means and resiliently engageable with the other side of said wall to yieldably resist withdrawal of said legmeans from said wall aperture. 7

16. Means for securing a sheathed electric heating element to an apertured support, comprising a sheet metal clip having a body portion connected to the heating element and a leg portion extending from said body portion, said leg portion being slit at spaced intervals to form a plurality of parallel tongues having portions deformed in opposite directions from the plane of the leg portion to constitute yieldable spring abutments insertable under compression through said aperture from one side of $3111 support and thereafter expanding to engage against the opposite side of said support to hold said element in place thereon.

17. An oven construction comprising means providing a pair of spaced apart walls in part defining an oven chamber, and sheathed electric heating element means within said chamber for heating the latter and arranged to obviate the necessity of providing a heating element leg across the oven chamber opening and thereby reduce the length of heating element required, said heating element means comprising two sheathed electric heating-elements each pivotally secured to and supported by a respective one of said walls and each projecting toward the, opposite wall an amount materially less than half the spacing between said walls.

18. The combination of an oven and a sheathed electric heating element connected to a wall of said oven,- said element having an intermediate active heating portion in spaced relation with said oven wall and extending into said oven an amount less than half the distance be tween said oven Wall and on opposite wall of said oven, and said element having end portions disposed transversely of said intermediate portion and each extending toward said oven wall and secured thereto.

19. The combination of an oven and a pair of sheathed electric heating elements connected to respective oppositewalls of said oven, each element having an intermediate active heating portion in spaced relation with its respective oven wall and extending into saidoven in spaced relation with the intermediate active heating portion of the electric heating element connected to the opposed oven wall, and each of said heating elements having end portions disposed transversely of its intermediate activeheating portion, each end portion extending toward its respective oven wall and secured thereto.

20. The combination of an oven and a pair of hori-' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,790,886 Fry Apr. 30, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Great'Britain Apr. 26; 1950 v UNITED STATES PATENT] OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2,924,696 February 9, 1960 George E Ammerman et a1.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, line 4, for "and intermediate" read an intermediate column 6, line 59, for "'sheated read sheathed column 8, line 38, for "and on" read and an line 54, before "sheathed" insert opposed Signed and sealed this 26th day of July 1960.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents v UNITED STATES PATEN'f OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2 924 696 February 9, 1960 George E Anunerman et al. C

It is herebfi certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, line 4, for "and intermediate" read an inter mediate column 6, line 59, for "sheated" read sheathed column 8 line 38, for "and on" read and an line 54, before "sheathed" insert opposed Signed and sealed this. 26th day of July 1960.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H a AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

